So finally, after years of getting dragged to ramshackle yard sales by my beloved girlfriend and pawing through someones soon-to-be-garbage, I found something great.

Didn't look like much at first, just a small stack of old Baseball cards. The price was right so I went ahead and bought them figuring that I could at least break even and maybe make a couple bucks.

Turns out that I got the complete set of Fleer baseball cards from 1963 including the checklist for - I won't say how much, but if I sell even one of the less desirable cards then I easily cover my initial cost.

Now I have no idea what to do with them. Judging from basic research most cards average 10-20 bucks with maybe 6-12 (out of 67 total) of them going for $50 to $150 or more. So do I sell them as a set or individually? Fixed Price or should I risk an auction? I'm not even sure how to ship ONE trading card. I wouldn't want to put a valuable card in a flimsy standard envelope but it also seems silly to put it in a gigantic package either. I have sold cards before but always in large amounts so easy to pack. And grading is another thing, there's a whole different standard.

Insight please?

Thanks!Howie

The countdown to 1,000 Hero Ratings has begun!

95 to go

I have been working on something exciting to give back to the Incredible CCL Community that has treated me so well these past few years. When I hit the 1,000 Hero threshold I will make an announcement that will leave you flush with anticipation! I have been dropping hints and here is another clue: What do you get when you take the 4th word of a 3 issue Marvel mini-series from 1982 and mash it with an annual Spring event that began 20 years later?

I really can't give you much guidance on grading, but try Beckett's web site. They might have some general examples of grading.

I'd sell it as a full set - start an auction with a high minimum and also add a buy it now of the price you want.

You've got a few choices for protecting them (obviously - don't stack them and rubber band them together). Either find a hard case that would fit the set, put them in quality (Ultra Pro Platinum or BCW's top line) 9-up card sheets, or put them in quality sleeves and then in a card storage box. I don't think there is a card storage box that fits less than 200 cards, but that leaves a bit of padding room for you. All of these ways provide you with a nice sturdy way of protecting the cards in shipping.

If you choose to sell them separately, put them in a sleeve, then a top loader, TAPE the top of the toploader shut (fold over the end of the tape so it provides a tab to pull the tape off with), sandwich between layers of cardboard larger than the cardand use either a padded envelope or a Small Priority mail box. If you go Priority Mail box, make sure the layers of cardboard fit snugly into the box so it doesn't slide around. That's how I regularly pack non-sport sketch cards I sell - and I've had some interesting (all extremely positive) feedback from my "nuclear bomb proof packaging". I've never had a card damaged when shipped like that.

Wow! That is some great advice. I never would have thought of some of that stuff.

I have looked at some grading guidelines but haven't seen Beckett's yet. I'll look into that. From what I have seen of these cards so far they look to be in nice shape. They actually came in a plastic box (no rubber band thankfully!) and have sharp edges and are all pretty flat. I have noticed that some of them aren't centered well and have seen mention of that in the grading guides I've looked at. I have some sleeves around that I will be putting them in for sure.

The countdown to 1,000 Hero Ratings has begun!

95 to go

I have been working on something exciting to give back to the Incredible CCL Community that has treated me so well these past few years. When I hit the 1,000 Hero threshold I will make an announcement that will leave you flush with anticipation! I have been dropping hints and here is another clue: What do you get when you take the 4th word of a 3 issue Marvel mini-series from 1982 and mash it with an annual Spring event that began 20 years later?

I would under no circumstances attempt to grade them, just take detailed scans. One thing I hate is people who dont collect comics grading stuff they find, it almost always leads to overgraded stuff.

Simply be honest and list cards as ungraded but with detailed scans. Since they are so small scans should be really detailed and give true card collectors enough info to grade themselves.

The thing you dont want is for a buyer to complain about grade after they receive them, and they will if you dont know how to grade cards. Its just like comics a 10 Gem Mint card worth $100 is only worth $50 at 9.0.

Putting in sleeves is a good idea though, you can buy from walmart for like $5

Thanks to the following sellers for helping me put together my complete run of Amazing Spider-man #1-700

You're absolutely right about trying to grade them. I researched card grading last night and realized that I'm out of my league there. It's kind of similar to comics grading but not really. I would be very worried about overgrading, I would rather err on the lower scale but I think if I want to learn how to grade cards I should start out with less valuable ones rather than this set.

I've got them sleeved up now in Ultra-Pro's, they are snug but protected. I have pretty much decided to list them as a lot, I could probably sell a half dozen or so individual cards right off the bat but then I would be left with 50+ of the less desirable ones. I believe my best value looks like keeping them as a complete set?

The countdown to 1,000 Hero Ratings has begun!

95 to go

I have been working on something exciting to give back to the Incredible CCL Community that has treated me so well these past few years. When I hit the 1,000 Hero threshold I will make an announcement that will leave you flush with anticipation! I have been dropping hints and here is another clue: What do you get when you take the 4th word of a 3 issue Marvel mini-series from 1982 and mash it with an annual Spring event that began 20 years later?

I disagree on the complete set thing...I used to collect and sell ball cards quite a bit. I have always made more money by breaking up sets...it allows more people to get in on the bidding thus upping the competition/prices. Also a lot of people like building sets vs. buying complete sets. If u want spend the time to piece it out, I would think u would definitely make more $...I mean sell all the big names individually, and then sell the "commons" as a lot...Just my opinion though

I see your point on that, I have actually considered selling the cream of the crop individually to make some quick bucks. After all, my mortgage isn't going to pay itself! I am going to sit on it for now and decide over the weekend what to do.

I picked up a bunch of other intriguing cards at the same estate sale that I'm researching now so I will probably throw them all on at once. One item I haven't identified yet is an unopened pack (I have six actually) of stickers from Topps. It says "American Baseball" on the front and on the back it is all in German and indicates that they were produced in Ireland and distributed in West Germany. There is no date on the package but I figure it's got to be from the 80's and possibly the 70's. I am thinking about opening one up to see what year exactly they were issued, I'll still have five unopened.

Weirdly enough, there were also a handful of cards in cans. You know, like a can of soup or something. I've never seen anything like that before.

The countdown to 1,000 Hero Ratings has begun!

95 to go

I have been working on something exciting to give back to the Incredible CCL Community that has treated me so well these past few years. When I hit the 1,000 Hero threshold I will make an announcement that will leave you flush with anticipation! I have been dropping hints and here is another clue: What do you get when you take the 4th word of a 3 issue Marvel mini-series from 1982 and mash it with an annual Spring event that began 20 years later?

Is this the biggest yard sale/estate sale find u have found?..I love yard selling, I have a 5 yr old son and an 8 yr old daughter and we go a lot during the summer, mostly to look for loose action figures for my son, super hero, star wars etc... This is gonna sound like a big fish story, but my father-in-law bought VF Incredible Hulk 181 at a Good Will store for $.50...no kidding, I sold it for him for $800...ridiculous find...

My personal best...I paid $40 bucks to a guy in a parking lot for some vintage but very beat up guitars. Turned those over as "projects or for parts" and raked in over $700...Always on the hunt for the next big find!

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